The news has been making the rounds about their recent bankruptcy. I caught a couple days ago from NPR’s Marketplace and now there’s an editorial in the Guardian.
With all their ups and downs alongside the video-game industry, I could’ve sworn Atari has been down this road at least a couple times. That ET game in 1982 alone should’ve done it.
The skinny I read online, I think it was the Economist…no, The Onion (seriously, the AV Club really); Atari’s bankruptcy is part of a strategy to get separated from its parent company in France, also going through bankruptcy. The business world has funny rules, laws and strategies that really serve only the top while screwing everybody else.
Atari’s legacy will live on even if the name does not. The games the company produced remain recognizable properties and they’ll get another life on smartphones and tablets. People still check out the old Atari cabinet-based stuff at Pinballz.